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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23140822">Bella</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/houselesbian/pseuds/houselesbian'>houselesbian</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Promare (2019)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>M/M, better living through cats</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-03-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 09:15:59</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,915</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23140822</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/houselesbian/pseuds/houselesbian</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>“It’s just one little cat.”</i>
</p><p>
  <i>“That is not a little cat, that is a big cat,” Lio said.</i>
</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Lio Fotia/Galo Thymos</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>224</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Bella</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=SparkofHopeZine">SparkofHopeZine</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This is the fic I wrote for the <a href="https://twitter.com/sparkofhopezine">Spark of Hope Zine</a>, a really wonderful zine which supported our firefighters here in Australia. I was so grateful to be a part of it and I'm in awe of the wonderful work the mods did putting it together. Many thanks to them!<br/>I hope you like the fic.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Galo was, somewhat unexpectedly, a cat person.</p><p>“No,” Lio said.</p><p>Galo held up an ageing, care-worn tabby. It had notched ears, one eye and a very confused expression on its face. It was also absolutely humongous. Galo’s hands were lost in its long, dusty fur.</p><p>“Come on,” Galo wheedled. “Look at her, she’s had a hard time. She needs love.”</p><p>“No,” Lio said.</p><p>“It’s just one little cat.”</p><p>“That is not a little cat, that is a big cat,” Lio replied.</p><p>The cat mewed, a high-pitched, plaintive thing, incongruous to its size. Galo pulled it in closer to his chest and rubbed his thumb gently against its ears. The cat’s fluffy tail curled up over Galo’s arm. It started to purr.</p><p>“Our apartment is too small for a cat,” Lio said, in the knowledge that while the war was lost, some things still needed to be said.</p><p>“We can buy her a harness and take her for walks!” Galo replied. “It’ll be so cute and if she gets stuck up a tree, there’ll be two firefighters there to get her down!”</p><p>Galo peppered the cat’s head with little kisses. It held up a paw and began kneading at Galo’s t-shirt gently, as its purr grew louder and louder. The cat rubbed its cheek against Galo’s neck. A doting expression bloomed on Galo’s face, utterly indulgent and completely new to Lio’s eyes.</p><p>Lio reached out and pulled a leaf from the cat’s dirty belly fur.</p><p>“What’s its name?” Lio asked.</p><p>“I’m thinking Bella,” Galo replied.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>Bella let Galo brush it, placid in the midst of its ongoing confusion. It produced a mound of fur tufts, dirt and detritus, including a stick that was at least five inches long. Galo gave it a bath that it endured with an endless stream of tiny, betrayed meows. To Lio’s horror, the tub was ringed in filth when they let the water drain. He had to lend his hairdryer to get it dry. When they were done, he was surprised to find that it was a fairly handsome thing, with a long, silky tail and neat white socks on its paws.</p><p>“Who’s my pretty girl?” Galo asked as he fed it treats from the kitchen table; a reward for its difficult day.</p><p>The cat did not answer him, as it was a cat.</p><p>“Don’t put it on the table,” Lio said, admonishingly. “We eat here.”</p><p>The cat took a few steps across the table, toward Lio, and held out its head to sniff him. Its whiskers were long and ticklish, its breath was soft. Lio’s hand reached out towards it without thinking. The cat flinched and jumped off the table, away from him.</p><p>He felt an unexpected but powerful sense of disappointment.</p><p>“Don’t worry,” Galo said. “She’ll come around. She’s just shy is all.”</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>Lio went to bed, curled around Galo, lulled to sleep by the steady beating of his heart.</p><p>He woke up alone, with a cat on his head.</p><p>“I told you!” Galo said, his head poking into their bedroom, a slice of toast held in his hand.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>“Hey babe,” Galo said, over the phone.</p><p>Galo only ever called him ‘babe’ when he needed to ask for something that he didn’t think Lio would want to do.</p><p>“What happened?” Lio asked.</p><p>“I’m going to be late home today,” Galo said. “There was a fire at the rec centre.”</p><p>“Do you need me to come down?” Lio asked, already up and walking towards the door.</p><p>“Nah, it wasn’t very big, we have it covered,” Galo replied.</p><p>Lio stopped, mid-step. “Oh…”</p><p>“You’re halfway out the door, aren’t you?”</p><p>“I was not,” Lio replied, primly.</p><p>“You’re the best,” Galo said warmly.</p><p>Lio grumbled a little, under his breath. They’d been together for months. Galo’s casual expressions of affection should not have been able to fluster him so, after so much time.</p><p>“I’m sorry to be a pain, but I have a favour to ask,” Galo said, ignoring Lio’s emotional roadblock.</p><p>“Ah, the worm turns,” Lio replied.</p><p>“I made an appointment for Bella at the vet…” Galo sounded genuinely apologetic. “I’d reschedule it but they’re super hard to get into and they charge a late fee. Can you take her for me?”</p><p>“How do I get her there?” Lio asked, with a sigh.</p><p>“I left out a cat box for her. The vet’s actually within walking distance! I’ll text you the details.”</p><p>“Alright, I’ll take her,” Lio said.</p><p>“Thanks so much, Lio!” Galo replied. “I really appreciate it.”</p><p>“Sure thing,” Lio said, resigned.</p><p>“See you later tonight! Love you!”</p><p>Lio felt his face go hot. “Love you too.”</p><p>He hung up his phone and looked towards the cat box that Galo had left by the door. Bella was curled up inside, asleep.</p><p>“You poor fool,” Lio whispered, before closing the flaps and flipping over the lock tabs.</p><p>Two seconds later, he heard the sound of soft paws scratching against the side of the box, followed by a mournful, questioning mew. He felt his heart go out to it. At least the walk would be short.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>Fifteen interminable minutes of crying later, Lio finally made it to the vet’s office.</p><p>“Oh, sweet baby!” the receptionist said, ignoring him. “You don’t have to be afraid, we’re not so scary.”</p><p>“I have an appointment for Bella,” Lio said, his sympathies somewhat faded.</p><p>“Wonderful!” the receptionist said. “You’re next up, would you like to wait in the cat room? She might feel more comfortable there.”</p><p>At the corner of the waiting room, an excited looking dalmatian was pulling on its leash, trying to get closer to Bella. The dog’s owner didn’t do anything about its behaviour, even though Bella was starting to puff up and cry even louder.</p><p>Lio glared at it, and it smiled brightly at him and wagged its tail. It reminded him of someone.</p><p>“The cat room would be lovely, thank you,” Lio said.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>The cat room was small but uncluttered, with a metal table in the middle and a counter with a computer to the side. It smelled like disinfectant and wet fur. Lio put Bella’s box up on the table, glad to rest his arms. The receptionist gave him a friendly wave as she walked out the door.</p><p>“Feel free to let her out of the box!” she said. “It should help her relax a bit.”</p><p>“Thanks,” Lio said.</p><p>When he opened the carrier, Bella looked up at him with her single eye, her ratty ears angled down, a picture of anguish. He took her out, so she could get a good look at the room, but instead of exploring, she put her paws gently on his chest and released the softest meow yet.</p><p>Lio sighed and picked her up. He tried to hold her like a football, but she shifted in his arms until she had her paws on his shoulder and her head pressed against his ear. She purred, a rattling sound unlike her usual smooth rumbling. Lio held her a little closer and gently ran his fingers over her soft ears.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>“Thanks for waiting!” the vet said, when she arrived. “I’m Carla.”</p><p>“Nice to meet you, I’m Lio,” he said.</p><p>“I’d shake your hand, but yours are a bit busy,” Carla said, amusement in her voice.</p><p>Bella had refused to leave his arms. For some reason, her fur was shedding everywhere, all over his clothes and onto the clinic floor.</p><p>“I’m sorry about the mess,” Lio said.</p><p>“It’s fine, they’ll do that,” Carla replied.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>Lio helped hold Bella still while they weighed her and while Carla poked and prodded her and looked at her teeth. Bella endured this with entreating looks towards Lio, which bothered the vet not at all, but seemed to make a pit open in Lio’s stomach. Finally, Carla turned her examination to Bella’s eye.</p><p>“Somebody loved you,” the vet said, a pensive note to her voice.</p><p>“What do you mean?” Lio asked.</p><p>“It’s her eye,” she said. “The fact that she had surgery for eye removal in the first place… but even then, this is quality work.”</p><p>The vet brushed her thumb along Bella’s cheek. Bella allowed the motion.</p><p>“And that, too. She’s very trusting for a rescue.” The vet smiled at him approvingly. “She’s lucky to have found you.”</p><p>Lio didn’t quite know what to say.</p><p>“She’s actually my boyfriend’s cat…” Lio said, sheepishly.</p><p>“Like dating someone with kids, am I right?” she said.</p><p>Lio considered the notion.</p><p>“It kind of is,” he agreed.</p><p>“She’s got a microchip,” Carla said. “There’s no central database but I can ask around.”</p><p>Lio’s reflexive response was to say ‘no’, to his own surprise. Galo was already attached and as a roommate, Bella was polite and neat.</p><p>But it wasn’t what Galo would do. Galo would want to make sure.</p><p>“If you wouldn’t mind,” Lio said, unhappily.</p><p>He paid the vet fee at the front desk, Bella already disconsolate inside her carrier.</p><p>“Bye, Bella’s Dad!” the receptionist said, as he walked out the door.</p><p>He almost tripped over the weather strip.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>Bella ran out of the carrier and hid under the bed, the moment she was released.</p><p>Ten minutes later she was seated in his lap, soft and purring.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>Bella was tucked into a little loaf on the sofa, pressed against Lio’s thigh, when the call came in. Galo took it in the kitchen, so as not to disturb her.</p><p>“Thanks for letting us know,” Galo said quietly, before he joined them both in the living room again.</p><p>“What was it?” Lio asked.</p><p>Galo sat down, careful not to jostle Bella. She got up regardless and pressed her head against Galo’s elbow. He picked her up for a cuddle.</p><p>“The vet found Bella’s owner,” he said. “She was an older lady who lived around the corner from here. She got outed as Burnish before the ship went up. She didn’t come back.”</p><p>Lio felt a burst of sadness, and a little shame, for Bella and her owner. She really had been loved, before it was all taken away.</p><p>“I’m sorry,” Galo said.</p><p>“Why are you sorry?” Lio asked, surprised.</p><p>“I know it’s hard for you,” Galo said. “I know it’s harder than I’ll ever understand.”</p><p>Lio sighed. “Yes, but you try.”</p><p>They were quiet for a moment.</p><p>“I’m glad your brought her home,” Lio said. “I’m glad we can take care of her. I’m sure her old owner would appreciate it.”</p><p>Galo smiled, in that way that made Lio love him more and more, every day.</p><p>“When I saw her, I knew that her life had been really hard, even though she’d done nothing to deserve it.”</p><p>Lio looked up to him, but Galo wouldn’t meet his eyes. He kept his gaze directed at the door, while his fingers carded through Bella’s fur.</p><p>“It wasn’t fair,” Galo said, softly.</p><p>Lio realised then that Galo wasn’t just talking about Bella. He was talking about Lio and maybe, just a little, talking about himself.</p><p>“I knew we could make it better for her,” Galo concluded.</p><p>“Yes, you’re right,” Lio said.</p><p>He wrapped his arms around Galo’s shoulders. Galo returned the embrace. Bella made a ‘prrt’ sound and then jumped down onto the floor.</p><p>“You’re such a sap.” Lio pressed a kiss to Galo’s hair. “It’s sweet.”</p><p>“You could do worse,” Galo said, with a soft laugh.</p><p>“There’s no one better,” Lio replied.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>Lio woke up the next morning, with Galo in his arms and a cat on his head.</p><p> </p><p> </p>
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